The report, which has since been taken down, discusses the reveal in the past tense, but didn’t go too far into the details. It confirmed what was already expected: Sony will almost certainly officially reveal their long-rumoured VR headset during their GDC presentation today, which is titled “Driving the Future of Innovation at Sony Computer Entertainment.”

This comes after the reveal was delayed from Gamescom and then the Tokyo Games Show last year.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/19/forbes-lets-slip-the-reveal-of-sonys-ps4-vr-headset/feed/3Microsoft’s Xbox brand will be “sold to someone like Sony”, failure is “inevitable”http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/21/microsofts-xbox-brand-will-be-sold-to-someone-like-sony-failure-is-inevitable/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/21/microsofts-xbox-brand-will-be-sold-to-someone-like-sony-failure-is-inevitable/#commentsMon, 21 Jan 2013 10:10:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=331513The analysts are at it again. This time, a US firm predicts Microsoft’s Xbox brand is on a downward spiral.

Could MS run into severe trouble across the next three years? One analyst certainly thinks so, beginning with the company’s console division.

“Unable to make a profit it will increasingly be seen as a distraction to the battle for saving Windows – and Microsoft leadership has long shown they have no idea how to profitably grow this business unit.”

Hartung also suggests the company will be hit with “enormous layoffs over the next three years”, alongside the closure of Microsoft’s online division as the organisation plows money into combating iOS.

“Microsoft makes more than 75 per cent of its profits from Windows and Office,” he added. “Less than 25 per cent comes from its vaunted servers and tools. And Microsoft makes nothing from its Xbox/Kinect entertainment division, while losing vast sums in its on-line division.

“No matter how much anyone likes the non-Windows Microsoft products, without the historical Windows/Office sales and profits Microsoft is not sustainable.

“Failure is already inevitable. At this stage, not even a new CEO can save Microsoft. Game over. Ballmer loses. And if you keep your money invested in Microsoft it will disappear along with the company.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/17/forbes-lists-six-games-industry-stars-in-30-under-30/feed/1Ballmer tops Forbes’ “5 CEOs that truly deserve being fired” listhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/05/16/ballmer-tops-forbes-5-ceos-that-truly-deserve-being-fired-list/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/16/ballmer-tops-forbes-5-ceos-that-truly-deserve-being-fired-list/#commentsWed, 16 May 2012 19:20:11 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=259381Forbes has named Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as the number one CEO “that truly deserves being fired.” Ballmer beat out other CEOs such as Walmart’s Mike Duke, the head of Sears and Cisco’s John Chambers.

According to the magazine, Ballmer’s “without a doubt the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today.”

“Not only has he singlehandedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets) but in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits of not only his company but ecosystem companies such as Dell, Hewlett Packard and even Nokia,” said the article.

“The reach of his bad leadership has extended far beyond Microsoft when it comes to destroying shareholder value – and jobs.

The article goes on to mention Microsoft’s stock prices which only recently stepped off the rollar coaster ride the form’s trading has been on since Ballmer took over in 2000. Still, shares in the company are in the low thirties, compared to $60 a share when Ballmer stepped in.

Forbes said the Microsoft Board should have replaced Ballmer years ago with “a CEO that understands the fast pace of technology shifts and would have kept Microsoft current with market trends.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/16/ballmer-tops-forbes-5-ceos-that-truly-deserve-being-fired-list/feed/6Report: Sony working on new console using AMD techhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/02/23/report-sony-working-on-new-console-using-amd-tech/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/23/report-sony-working-on-new-console-using-amd-tech/#commentsThu, 23 Feb 2012 08:15:56 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=235609Sony is working on a new, unannounced console that will implement AMD graphics technology, according to a Forbes report.

The report cites “former” employees of AMD as its sources. PlayStation 3 has used NVIDIA tech since its inception.

AMD and Sony chief transformation officer George Bailey have both refused to comment on the matter, with the latter even refusing to, unsurprisingly, acknowledge its existence.

Reports in the past year have indicated that development on PlayStation 4 has kicked off in some form at several developers from the Sony Worldwide Studios family.

Sony launched its next-gen portable PlayStation Vita in the US and Europe yesterday. It released in Australia today.

Thanks, Gekidami.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/23/report-sony-working-on-new-console-using-amd-tech/feed/28Steam is hugely profitable, has up to 70% of market: Forbeshttp://www.vg247.com/2011/02/13/newell-stream-tremendously-profitable-has-up-to-70-of-market/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/02/13/newell-stream-tremendously-profitable-has-up-to-70-of-market/#commentsSun, 13 Feb 2011 21:51:06 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=147726An analyst at IHS Screen Digest has estimated Steam’s 2010 revenue at “high hundreds of millions of dollars,” while Gabe Newell has said the company is “tremendously profitable”.

Valve is remarkably tight-lipped about Steam’s financials, but a profile on founder Gabe Newell has rounded up some interesting snippets.

According to Forbes, Valve still employs only 250 staff, and “per employee” is allegedly more profitable than Apple or Google. The company is valued at at $2-$4 billion.

Steam’s user-base of 30 million is the largest in the industry after the big three – Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

It’s also the largest in the PC gaming sector. Last year the NPD revealed digital distribution passed boxed sales, and of that $4 billion market, Steam is said to hold “half to 70 percent”.

Premiere business magazine Forbes has published a short assessment of Activision Blizzard’s recent financial performance, highlighting top-line growth and greater than expected adjusted earnings increases.

Activision Blizzard reportedly enjoyed a 14 percent top line growth in third quarter 2010, largely thanks to StarCraft II, which is likely also behind an 81 percent sales increase in Asian territories. Adjusted earnings increased by 12 cents, which topped the site’s own forecast of 7 cents, and operating margins went from 9.9 percent to 23.8 percent.

The site’s Zacks blog recently ranked ActiBlizz stock in second place on its “buy” list, and notes yields of 1.2 percent and a market cap of USD $14.4 billion.

The translation for those of a non-economic mind is that Activision Blizzard make a lot of money and you should get in on that action if you can. So now you know.

Valve bossman Gabe Newell’s moniker has been dubbed by Forbes Magazine as one of the “Names You Need to Know in 2011″, and the reason has everything to do with Steam.

According to Forbes, it estimated back in 2005 Valve was poised to surpass $70 million in revenue at the end of 2005 with doing $55 million in operating profit; therefore, the magazine estimates the firm has reached the hundreds of millions point some five years later.

This year, according to Newell, Steam is expected to have its biggest year ever in terms of sales. The firm has seen a growth of more than 200 percent in sales in the last 12 months alone.

Industry estimates have Steam accounting for 70 percent of the digital distribution market,with 1,200 PC and Mac game titles available, and 30 million active users who have the ability to promote and sell mods.

Newell was a former “Microsoft millionaire” who left the firm to form Valve in 1996 with Mike Harrington, also a former Microsoft employee.

“If you define knockoff as ‘a copy or imitation of someone or something popular’ the way Merriam-Webster does, then I think Rock Band fits the bill nicely,” Beller told GameDaily.

The similarities between Rock Band and Guitar Hero are “obvious,” Beller said.

“My terming Rock Band a ‘shameless knockoff’ of Guitar Hero was based on the fact that it came out after Guitar Hero and sported very obvious similarities with Guitar Hero, including color-coded prompts moving onscreen along a fret board,” he said.

According to this Forbes article, the modern games industry is becoming increasingly less tolerant of the “core” gamer. That’s you, probably.

“The ongoing paradigm shift in gaming is expanding the industry’s audience, giving the sector steady growth at a time when many others are shrinking,” says author Chris Morris.

“But growth doesn’t come without cost. As parents and seniors become more important to publishers, core gamers are being nudged aside.”

Never fret, though. Avid gamers are going to be increasingly catered for by indie developers. Phew.

“The hardcore is completely safe,” said Warren Spector. “They are less relevant to major publishers, but they are more relevant to independent developers.”

More through there.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2008/09/30/core-gamers-being-nudged-aside-says-forbes/feed/4Iwata apologises for lack of “hardcore” Nintendo games at E3http://www.vg247.com/2008/07/23/iwata-apologises-for-lack-of-hardcore-nintendo-games-at-e3/
http://www.vg247.com/2008/07/23/iwata-apologises-for-lack-of-hardcore-nintendo-games-at-e3/#commentsWed, 23 Jul 2008 06:24:48 +0000http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/07/23/iwata-apologises-for-lack-of-hardcore-nintendo-games-at-e3/We skipped this yesterday as we got blinded by ubiquity of the whole Nintendo E3 casual hardcore disaster “thing,” but Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has actually apologised for the company’s E3 press conference in general.

“If there is any perception that Nintendo is ignoring the core gamers, it’s a misunderstanding and we really want to get rid of that misunderstanding by any means,” he told Forbes.

“We are sorry about [the E3] media briefings, specifically for those who were expecting to see Nintendo show something about Super Mario or Legend of Zelda.

“However, the fact of the matter is the so-called ‘big titles’ need a long, long development period. We really didn’t think this year’s E3 media briefing was the time to do so.”

Fair enough. He’s a real man, is Iwata. More through the link.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2008/07/23/iwata-apologises-for-lack-of-hardcore-nintendo-games-at-e3/feed/4Forbes: Europe has biggest potential as games markethttp://www.vg247.com/2008/06/20/forbes-europe-has-biggest-potential-as-games-market/
http://www.vg247.com/2008/06/20/forbes-europe-has-biggest-potential-as-games-market/#commentsFri, 20 Jun 2008 18:27:38 +0000http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/06/20/forbes-europe-has-biggest-potential-as-games-market/According to Forbes, Europe has the greatest potential for growth as a games market.

The business site referred to market research from IDG showing that the European market generated $17.9 billion in revenues in 2007 – less than the $18.8 billion in revenues generated by the US – despite having more than twice the population.

The Forbes article claims that videogames aren’t as widely accepted in Europe as they are in the States, and that the worldwide development community has focused on capturing the hardcore US gamers – paying less attention to European players who prefer casual games.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2008/06/20/forbes-europe-has-biggest-potential-as-games-market/feed/4San Andreas is biggest game in American historyhttp://www.vg247.com/2008/06/06/san-andreas-is-biggest-game-in-american-history/
http://www.vg247.com/2008/06/06/san-andreas-is-biggest-game-in-american-history/#commentsFri, 06 Jun 2008 09:32:22 +0000http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/06/06/san-andreas-is-biggest-game-in-american-history/According to Forbes, GTA: San Andreas is the biggest selling game in America ever. Crime pays, clearly.

There’s a feature on Forbes speculating that iPod and iPhone – and the software-delivering App Store – could bring trouble to Nintendo’s dominace of the handheld market.

“Apple is the first to master a pair of tricks that have made Nintendo’s latest products so compelling – a touch-screen interface and the ability to pick up on motion,” says the piece.

“The key difference: Unlike Nintendo, which has created a gaming console with a motion-sensitive controller and a touch-sensitive handheld gaming system, Apple has crammed both capabilities into its iPhone and iPod Touch.”